Every Man's Dream and Nightmare
by Villain84
Summary: Crossover between Naruto and Catherine. When a foxy blonde minx comes into Naruto's life, he deals with complications with his friends and nightmares that threaten his life. Naruto X Catherine. Narusaku and Naruhina later. Language, violence, strongly suggestive themes. On Hold. Not Abandoned.
1. Chapter 1

It was a quiet autumn evening in the Tanigakure when it all began. There was not a cloud in the night sky, letting the millions of stars and crescent-shaped moon illuminated the sky over the huge village in the valley. The village seemed a lot like Konoha did before Pain destroyed it.

Shikamaru, Kiba, Rock Lee, and Naruto had all been sent her to ask the village superiors for some supplies to aid the the rebuilding and restoration of Konoha, and then bring those supplies back safely. The village had no kage, and the village shinobi were not very skilled, so there was no need to invite them to the upcoming Kage Summit.

The boys had just arrived at the village, and were settling down for some relax time before getting down to business with the leaders. Shikimaru was in charge, and being him, he took things slow when there was no need to rush. Tonight, they were trying out the town ramen bar, arranging to meet with the superiors first thing tomorrow morning.

This was especially fun for Naruto, who was devastated that Ichiraku had been destroyed in the invasion. Of course the place they were did not make ramen quite as good, but it would do for Naruto. It was still pretty tastey.

It was still pretty quiet in the village. The streets were nearly deserted other than a few other people still hanging around, or heading home. There was no line outside the curtains. Shikamaru sat in the corner, and heading down from there was Lee, Kiba with Akamaru behind him, chewing a piece of pork, and Naruto, leaving three seats to the next wall. Each boy was settling down to their second bowl of steaming hot ramen.

"Alright guys," the manager said as he passed out the bowls, "we're closing in a half-hour, so I want you gone by then."

"Don't sweat it," Shikamaru muttered, "we're almost done."

"Alright. Enjoy." The manager walked out to the back.

"What a friendly guy," Kiba smirked as he dug in to his bowl.

"His cooking certain makes up for it!" Lee announced as he picked up his chopsticks again, "Don't you think, Naruto?"

"Mmm-hm!" Naruto nodded, his mouth full of noodles already.

The other three boys smiled at their blonde pal. He had grown up to be more than that goofy brat who flunked at the academy. They remembered how he saved the village from Pain. And now, here they were, on a mission with him, getting a good chance to sit down and chat with him.

"So, Naruto," Kiba spoke up, trying to get a conversation going, "We're you scared when you fought that Pain guy?"

Naruto swallowed his ramen, the answered, "I was a little scared, I guess. But mostly, I was eager to use the sage abilities."

"You're one lucky bastard, you know that?" Kiba continued, "First you get to train under Jiraiya, one of the sannin, then you get picked to go and train under the toad sages, and now you've surpassed even him! Incredible, huh?"

"Right." Naruto looked away from Kiba and at the floor after being reminded of his master's death.

"He'd be proud of you for what you've done and where you are now." Shikamaru smiled at him from the other end of the bar.

"Thanks." Naruto cheered up from that and smiled back.

"How was training under the sages?" Lee asked, "Is there any chance you could ask them to train me? The power you demonstrated as a sage was incredible! I'd love to experience it myself."

"I guess I could talk to Old Toad Fukasaku about it," Naruto replied. "The worst he can do is say 'no'."

"Oh, Thank you." Lee grinned. _Guy Sensai would be so proud if I can get to train under the sages! Maybe I can get him in as well!_ He thought. He took another slurp of noodles from his ramen, and then another idea struck him.

"Say, Naruto, was Sakura impressed by your ferocious display of hard work and power?"

"I don't know, I guess so, a little," Naruto replied. "She hugged and thanked me for saving the village, when every was carrying me around, but other than that, she hasn't really been treating me much differently."

"I can't imagine why she wouldn't completely fall for you now," Kiba laughed, "I'll bet ya every girl in Konoha would die to go out with you!"

"You know, Ino said she might be falling for you when you returned from beating Pain," Shikamaru added.

"_Ino_ said that?" Naruto was shocked. He never expected, or really cared, that Ino would notice him.

"I mean come on, man," Kiba continued, "you're a hero to our village. If I were you, I'd talk to some of the girls, see if you like some of them."

"I don't know," Naruto replied, "I'm not really sure now would be the best time to start a relationship. I mean so much is going on now."

"Oh, come on! If Sakura told you she was interested in being your girl now, you'd take her in a heartbeat!"

"Well, Sakura is going through a lot of the same things I'm going through, that the rest of the village is going through. And we've known each other for a long time. Besides, she's still in love with Sasuke. I just know it." Naruto felt a bit of depression overtaking him again.

"She'll get over him at some point I'm sure." Shikamaru answered.

"Yes, and then perhaps she will be willing to return my own feelings for her!" Lee announced proudly.

"Besides, I remember what Hinata did and said during the battle," Naruto continued. "She said that she loves me. That she's always loved and admired me, and wants to be with me. What am I suppose to do about that?"

"Well, how do _you_ feel about Hinata?" Shikamaru asked. "I think that's the most important question you need to ask."

Naruto stopped shoving food into his mouth for a second, and put a hand to his chin, thinking. "Well, Hinata's okay. She's really sweet, but she's really quiet and nervous, and I always thought it was weird how she acted awkward around me. At least up 'till now, now that I know why she was like that. I have to admit, though, she's pretty cute. Maybe not quite as hot as Sakura, but still really cute."

"She's insecure about a lot of things," Kiba added, "and you help her out with a lot of them. You're not that close now and you're a life line to her. If you were to go out with her, it would do a lot for her confidence."

"Yeah, that's true." Lee took another slurp of his ramen.

After a quick slurp, Kiba continued. "You know, in all honesty guys, I kind of have a slight crush on Hinata myself. Nothing really strong for her-I mean, of course I have strong feelings for her as a friend, but I mean I'm not in love with her as much as like-she is with Naruto, or-well... you know what I mean."

"Really?" Lee was pretty surprised.

"Yep. But now that I know she loves Naruto, I'm giving up on her."

"You're not jeolous or anything of me?" Naruto asked.

"Of course I'm jeolous!" Kiba laughed again, "You have any idea how much I'd_ love_ to be in your shoes right now?"

Everyone got a good laugh from that.

After another minute, the laughing died down, and everyone went back to finishing their ramen. "Okay, it's getting late," Shikamaru said, getting up and pulling out his wallet, "Let's get to the hotel."

"What? Now? Aw, come on guys!" Naruto whined, "I don't want to go to bed yet! And I want another bowl!"

"We need some rest," Shikamaru answered. "We have a big, boring day of talking with old guys tomorrow, and then we gotta carry all the supplies back home."

"And we must be prepared if an enemy should every strike at us while en route back home!" Lee spouted.

"Well, I doubt that will happen, but yeah. We need to be ready for that." Shikamaru answered.

"Relax, buddy." Kiba said to Naruto. "You can just hang out here 'till it closes if you want."

Shikamaru handed Naruto some Ryo. "These rounds were on me," he said, "but if you want any more, you're paying yourself."

"Thanks Shikamaru." Naruto smiled.

"You know where we're staying. Come up when you're done here."

"Don't stay up too late dude!" Kiba snickered. And with that, the three got up and left the bar.

* * *

><p>Naruto had twenty minutes to kill before the bar closed, so he ordered a third bowl. He also had a can of root beer to drink. The next ten minutes were going pretty well until he sensed someone come in behind him from behind the drapes.<p>

"Excuse me, mind if I sit here?" Said a soft, cute, girly voice.

Naruto turned his head and faced a girl of about his height. She was rather thin, had pale skin, and wore a white girdle, skirt and stockings, with a red sash around her waist. She had hair as golden as his own, set in curls on the sides, and sparkling blue eyes that were slightly paler than his own. Naruto thought she was downright gorgeous, and hot.

"What? Oh, yeah. Sure," He stuttered, remembering what she said. She took a seat right down next to him at the seat on his left side, where Kiba had been sitting earlier. She leaned on the counter with her elbows, and gave a cute smile toward Naruto. Naruto pretended not to notice and continued eating.

Hearing the voices, the manager came out from the back. "What can I do for you, miss?" He asked the girl.

"I'll have what he's having." She said, pointing to Naruto with her left hand. "Oh, and a Japanese cocktail please."

"Beef Ramen? Okay then. Coming up." The manager went back again.

"Is that delicious?" The girl asked, turned to Naruto.

"What? Um, yeah." He stuttered. She giggled at him. She must have thought his stuttering was funny, or cute. He figured she wanted to talk, since she was acting so friendly, so he decided to go with it. "Wait, why would you order something and you don't know if you'll like it?"

"I like to try new things." She said simply. "I'm Catherine, by the way."

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto figured that this girl had not heard of how him before. That was okay. News traveled slowly sometimes. "What kind of name is Catherine. It doesn't sound Japanese."

"It's English. I'm from England."

"But you speak Japanese so fluently."

"I took a class."

The manager came out from the back kitchen. "Your order, miss." He passed Catherine her bowl.

"Thank you." She squeaked before the manager went back in. Catherine began eating her ramen, and seemed to be enjoying it. After a minute, Naruto started speaking again.

"So, how long have you been living here?" Naruto asked.

"I moved here about three years ago. I got a job modeling for clothes."

"I'm sure you're a great model." Naruto said without thinking.

Catherine giggled. "You're pretty funny. What about you? What's your job?"

"I'm a shinobi from Konohagakure," He replied in a bragging tone. "Our village was attacked, we took some pretty serious damage, and now me and my comrades have been sent here to try to find some supplies."

"A shinobi, huh?"

"And believe it or not, I'm the one who drove off the invader attacking us!" Naruto gave her one of his trademark grins with squinty eyes.

"You must be really strong then." Catherine purred.

"Yep!"

"Anyway, did you and your friends stop here for dinner?"

"Yep. They all went back to our hotel room. I'm just finishing up here."

"What kind of things did you talk about?"

That was a bit of an odd question, Naruto thought, trying to get into someone's business after just meeting them here. "Why do you want to know?"

"I just thought I'd see what you're interested in talking about."

Naruto felt that was an okay reason. "Oh, something about how I should try to pay more attention to the girls of our village and maybe date a few of them."

"Your friends are trying to push you into a relationship?"

"I guess so... In some ways."

"Well, they're being good friends, but I think relationships are something you should decide for yourself, you know? I mean only you really know who is the right one for you, and you should be careful who you pick."

"I was thinking that too," Naruto answered. "I'm having a hard time deciding this one girl I've always had a crush on since the academy, and this other one who's had a crush on me since the academy. There's a few others in between, but those are the two main ones."

"Well, men aren't the only ones having trouble finding their perfect soulmates, you know."

"I guess not."

"Catherine looked back at him and smiled. "We're so alike, it seems," she whispered. With that, she turned back to her ramen and began shoveling the last bit of her ramen into her mouth. Naruto put his own bowl down, and could not help but look her over. She truly was beautiful. Her white skin looked so smooth, her hair looked shiny and soft, well shampooed. And her face was flawless. The rest of her body was small and slender.

She finished her ramen, drinking up the last few drops of broth, the setting her bowl down with a satsified "mmm". Next, she reached for her cocktail, and sipped it down until it was about half gone. It was not until after that and she set the glass down again did she notice Naruto staring at her. Slightly startled, she looked into his sparkling blue eyes with her own dull blue eyes.

"What is it?" She asked, drawing him back to reality.

"What? Oh!" He stuttered, "Uh, nothing." He awkwardly reached for his can of root beer for a sip. _What am I doing?_ He thought. _I'm hitting a random girl I meet in a ramen shop in another town. What am I thinking? She might have a boyfriend for all I know. She probably does, I mean just look at that body._

Catherine never looked away from him. "Come on. What is- ah!" as she leaned in closer to him, her palm that she was leaning on the counter with slipped, and she fell forward.

"Woah!" Her head bumped into Naruto's chest. Her upper body now pressed against his. Naruto instinctively caught her in his left arm. "You okay?" He asked after she took a breath.

"Yeah. Thanks. You're so kind." Without pulling back to her seat, she looked up at him again, their faces inches apart now.

A little creeped out, Naruto tried to lean back a little. "Woah, um, sorry." He tried to pull his arm back, but she grabbed his wrist in her left hand, and held him down.

"Oh, okay. Um, I kind of need to go find my friends," He stuttered. "It was nice meeting you."

"Come on, stay with me a little longer," Catherine purred. Her small, warm, smooth hand held on to his own. She laced her fingers between his. When he tried to pull away again, she only held him down tighter. She guided his hand along her hips, down to her ass.

_Woah, what a small, smooth, perfect ass._ Naruto thought. Wonder what the skin is like under these clothes. No! Wait, what am I saying! And as he was thinking, he could not help but look down at her breast, which her girdle barely concealed. They were pretty big. Not as big as Tsunade's, and not so big that they looked to big for her to bare, but still rather large.

"Do you like what you see?" Catherine whispered seductively.

"Huh? I- I'm not staring!"

"Hmph. You're a terrible liar, aren't you?"

Next, she released his hand, and both of her hands reached up around the back of his neck, she pulled him, and before he could say anything else, she pressed her lips against his, and kissed him. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, wandering about all inside, licking his tongue, teeth, and gums. She moaned in pleasure as she did so. At first Naruto felt totally freaked out, but at the same time, he could not pull away. He was really enjoying this.

After a few seconds, Catherine drew back from him. "You taste like beef," She purred. "Yum."

"Well, you know, that's probably from the ramen," Naruto tried to laugh. Her response was lick her lips lustfully.

This was not the first time he was kissed, but his fourth in a way. His first time was with Sasuke, of course, but that was a total accident. His second time was with that strange girl, Isaribi from the Land of Sea, but that was when he was drowning, and she was giving him mouth-to-mouth. His third time was during the events with Sora, and that enemy kunoichi, Fuuka, tried to kill him with her_ Execution by Kiss_ Jutsu. She had actually nearly landed it three times, but she counted as one person. He also did a little with Shion the priestess when he impregnated her, but that was not just a simple kiss.

"Why don't we go somewhere where we can have some more fun?" She whispered.

"But I really need to go catch up with my friends. We have our mission tomorrow."

"Where are you staying?"

"The motel just down the street."

"I have a room there! Let's go to my room and you can just explain everything to your friends tomorrow. How about that?"

This was tough for Naruto. He had a feeling Shikamaru and the other guys would be worried about them by now. But he was sure they would not mind too much. He wanted more from where that kiss and hips came from.

"Okay." He said.

Catherine giggled a little as she stood up from her seat.

"Oh, wait. Almost forgot." Naruto turned back to the counter. "Hey, old man. Check please!" He called.

After a second, the manager came out through the door up to the counter.

"So, you're finally done?" He asked.

"Yep. We both are."

"Great. It was about closing time anyway. Here' the checks." He held them each a piece of paper. Naruto took out Gama-chan, his froggy coin purse, and took out the ryo he needed for his last bowl. He also gave Shikamaru's ryo to pay for the rest of the ramen from earlier. Catherine took out her own wallet and paid him. "Thank you." She chirped.

"Good night." The manager muttered as he went to the back again.

"Alright, Naruto-kun," Catherine chirped when they were outside, "shall we?" She held out her left hand for him, which he took in his right.

"Yes please, Catherine-san."

And with that, she led him down the now empty street to the motel. The whole walk there, he did not let go of her hand, nor did she of his.

**Author's Comments: Well, that's it for chapter one. Hope I'm off to a good start so far.**

**This is the first time I'm going to try using those Japanese suffixes like -kun, -san, and -sama etc., so I may not make them all come out right, but I'll do my best.**

**As far as I know, this is the first Catherine fanfic on this site, even if it is a crossover. I got this game just a couple of days ago and I love it! And then this idea came up the first night I played it. I've decided I'll post more as I play more through the game and learn more about how everything works, then apply it to Naruto.**

**It does not say so in the summery, because I ran out of space to use, but there will very likely be harem in later chapters.**

**I hope everyone who read it liked it. Please submit a review, favorite or subscribe if you liked it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Side by side, hand in hand, Naruto and Catherine strolled through the empty street. It must have been late now, for most of the lights in the buildings were out now. Everyone in the village now was in their houses, sound asleep.

Naruto was excited. A cute girl being this intimate with him? He was not about to pass this up. After all, how much harm could one one-night stand do?

The pair soon made it to the motel. From the outside, it was a long, white, one-story building that stretched down at least the length of four houses.

They slowly entered through the creaky front door, and entered a lobby lit only by a single lamp at the front desk. The clerk was snoring in his chair there. The rest of the lobby was decent. A dark carpet floor, some sofas around a tea table in the small room.

Not interested in looking around the room, Catherine led Naruto down the hall at the right. It must have been the only hall there. As they walked down, there were doors on both sides. The hall must have been about five or six rooms long.

"Man. This place is dark," Naruto observed.

"Mm-hm," Catherine replied. "They're pretty sloppy here. If you prefer a more pleasant place to sleep, this place is really only good to stay at for a night or too."

"I'll keep that in mind," Naruto whispered.

"Here we are!" They had stopped at the fourth door down on the right side of the hall. Catherine slipped her hand out from Naruto's, and reached into her pocket for her room key. She took it out, unlocked the door, and creaked it open. She stepped in, and Naruto followed her.

"Don't turn on the lights," She whispered, "I don't think we'll be needing them."

The moonlight was seeping in from the window at the other side of the room, through the blinds. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Naruto could see the white stripped mattress under the window, with the sheets on it were a little messed up, showing that Catherine must have slept here the night before. Naruto could also make out a dresser across from the bed, a small table with a lamp up against the wall near the head of the bed, and an empty shelf at the opposite wall.

"So, Naruto-kun," Catherine purred, sitting on the edge of the bed, "shall we begin?"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Naruto groaned with excitement.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, sweaty and tired as he was, Naruto collapsed and fell down to Catherine's left side. They both took a minute to catch her breath. It was finally over. They were done.<p>

"That... was... amazing," Naruto panted finally.

"You... were incredible," Catherine whispered. She reached over the side of the bed and picked up the pillow, and set it under their heads so they could rest on it. Naruto pulled up the covers over them.

They were both so tired, both from the intercourse and because it was late. They were too tired to say much more or move. Naruto felt his eyes become heavier, his vision darkening. He kept looking at Catherine's pretty face.

"Good night, Catherine-san," He whispered.

"Sleep well, Naruto-kun."

And with that, Naruto dropped into a deep sleep.

**Author's Note: ****I'm sure you've noticed, but there was actually suppose to be a lemon in this chapter. I'm sorry but a few months after I posted this chapter, I found out that lemons actually are not allowed on this site. So I'm sorry, but in order to keep this story on here, I had to take out the lemon. I'm really sorry to let-down everyone.**


	3. Chapter 3

About ten minutes later, after being unconscious, Naruto found himself walking out heavy wooden door. As he stepped out the door, he noticed that he was still naked, only dressed in his boxers. It was pretty cold where he was too. He felt goosebumps on his arms, and shivered.

The then noticed that he was wearing his headband. Weird, did he not leave it on the shelf in Catherine's room? As he was feeling his headband, he also felt something else on his head. They were hard, sturdy. They also curved around the sides of his head. _What the hell? Ram antlers?_ Naruto thought.

He stepped out onto a smooth, tile-like floor. He looked out around him. Upward, he saw a tower of large, white blocks, all set in odd positions and paths and staircases. The stack was huge! It must have been a few miles high at least. It was almost like he was inside a tetris game, except he did not see any blocks falling down in top, and all the blocks were one color.

Naruto looked out around him to the sides, away from the tower. It appeared to be an underground area. It was very dark in the cavern. The cavern walls were of dark grey earth. There were some vines clinging to the sides here and there, and what was weird was a few lanterns entangled in the vines. There were also a few cascade waterfalls on the walls, but instead of water, the liquid was red. What was it? Blood?

"What the hell is this place?" Naruto asked out loud. Before anything else happened, he suddenly heard the door behind him slam shut. Startled he turned, and grabbed for the handle, but it was locked somehow. It would not budge, and Naruto realized he was stuck in the cavern.

He looked down. There were a few more rows of blocks under him. And after that, a deep dark abyss. He could not see how far down it went.

Suddenly, the entire tower shook violently, as if there was an earthquake. Naruto held out his arms to keep balanced. He saw a few rows of blocks under him collapse, and fall into the dark abyss below.

"Woah!" Naruto staggered back, and pressed his body against the block behind him.

"Hey, buddy!" A man's voice called out and echoed, "Don't just stand there. Hurry up and climb!"

Naruto looked around frantically for the source of the voice. "Who said there? Who are you? What is this place?"

"Save your breath and start climbing! If you fall, you're dead!"

"Dead?" Naruto was really confused.

Still, he did not want to die, if what this guy was saying was true. _Better be on the safe side,_ he thought.

He turned up toward the stairs, and jumped up. He was expecting to get high, but he crashed down on a block just two levels higher than the one before.

_What the fuck happened?_ Naruto thought. _Normally I could have jumped up about four or five blocks up!_

"Wow! That was a pretty high jump!" The voice shouted.

"I could have jumped higher!" Naruto snapped. "Looks like I'll have to try this!" He formed his shadow clone hand seal. _Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!_ There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, Naruto had two shadow clones at his side. _What? I put in enough chakra to conjure at least five or six clones!_

"Oh, I see, you're a shinobi, huh?" The voice called, "Our abilities and jutsu are really limited here. They won't be as much help to you as they would in the real world."

From that, Naruto was able to deduct that this voice was a shinobi as well. "Wait, what do you mean the real world?"

"We're in a dream, don't you get it?"

"What? A dream? Well if that's so, shouldn't we just be able to pinch ourselves and wake up or something?" Naruto reached over and pinched himself on the chest, then the shoulder, but nothing happened. And then, another idea struck him. He held his nipple, and squeezed it a little. That hurt way more than the other two pinches. Still, nothing happened. It was as though he were wide awake, and this was reality.

"No. I tried that," Said the voice. "We can't wake up 'till morning."

"What? Why not?"

"Forget it! Just keep climbing!" The voice snapped. And he did not say another word.

_Okay, guess that's it for him._ Naruto thought. He looked up. There was a block wall that stretched up three stories. He could not jump this one. And then he got a plan. He had his two clones stack up on top of each other, and then he climbed on top of the second, and was able to jump off them to the top block. After that, he formed his hand seal, making the clones disappear. He figured the easiest way to climb for him, without using too much energy, was to jump on one block at a time, and save his special techniques for later.

He found a few blocks stacked up to form a staircase, so he climbed up them, easily hopping up one block at a time. He noticed that below him, the row of blocks where he first tried his jutsu had fallen. A slight bit of panic swept through him. At the top of the stairs, he came to another wall two blocks high. There was no block on the sides that he could step on. He figured it was time for another clone ladder. Before he could form his hand seal, however, the voice broke in again.

"Listen, these blocks are not ordinary blocks," He said. "I know they look heavy, but you can move them around. Try it."

Naruto put down his arms, and looked at the wall in front of him. The blocks were all made of what looked like white concrete. There was no way he could pull one out of the wall on his own, not without sage power.

Still, he figured he could trust this guy, and he reached for one block in front of him. He slipped his hands on the sides in between the gap between it and its neighboring blocks. He heaved back on it, and to his surprise, found it come straight out, as if it were just a cardboard box carrying something light like a small TV set.

As the box slid out over the spot Naruto was standing on, he felt himself loose footing, and nearly lost his balance. He slipped off the side of the block, but managed to catch himself by grabbing the rim. No time to catch breath. The blocks were falling down five stories below now.

Naruto shimmied over to the left of the block, quickly pulled himself up, then hopped up onto the block, then up again. He had gotten over the wall.

And then he remembered something. The block he had taken out had been under the block he was standing on now. There was nothing below it holding it up! How was this possible.

"Hey, buddy!" Naruto screamed out, hoping the voice would answer him, "What's up with these blocks? There's nothing under them? Why aren't they falling? What about gravity?"

"Listen up. It's very important that you understand this," He replied, to Naruto's relief. "These blocks will not fall down as long as they are touching the edge of another block."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know. But it's a dream. Not everything has to make sense. Look, don't over think it. Just use it to your advantage."

Naruto smiled at those last words. Whoever this voice was, he liked him. And then he remembered the floor was collapsing. He continued on his way.

He continued climbing through the long place for about another two hours it seemed, though to him, it felt like a whole day. A long, stressful, perilous day, as though he were in a battle with a powerful enemy. He kept pushing, pulling blocks, climbing up them, summoning clones, though no more than two at a time, to help him out. He not only used his clones as ladders. He also used them to reach areas too dangerous or too risky for him, to climb higher then pull him up, to set blocks into a certain arrangement. It was amazing the uses Naruto could find for clones. But than again, this _was_ his best, and most practiced Jutsu.

Eventually, in addition to the white normal blocks, Naruto discovered new blocks that crumbled away as he stepped on them. He had to be careful of those. He had a few close calls. He also found large brown, stone blocks that were actually as heavy as they looked. Well, not quite actually, for Naruto was still able to push and pull them, though with more effort. He soon came across blocks of this type that had skulls painted on the side. These he could not move at all.

The whole time, Naruto did not see any other people on the tower. He seemed to be the only one. This voice was the only company he had. Naruto occasionally asked him a question, but he did not answer any of them, arguing that Naruto should keep climbing and worry about the situation later. He also said that he had to climb as well. At that point, Naruto looked up and around, looking for him, but he still saw no one. He figured the voice was higher up than he was.

"Hey, by the way, don't get caught under the block if the fall," The voice said at one point, "They'll crush and kill you."

"That goes without saying," Naruto muttered.

At one point though, Naruto heard a scream. He looked to the left of the tower, and saw the source. A large sheep, one about as big as a human, was falling down. But the scream was so human! Naruto watched as the sheep disappeared into the dark abyss below. And when he was gone from sight, there was a light thud, and the screaming stopped.

"Who the hell was that?" Naruto asked the voice, totally freaked out.

"Another guy climbing," He replied simply. "He slipped. Keep climbing, and be careful. You don't wanna end up like him."

Naruto shook it off, and continued climbing.

Naruto got the hang of things eventually. By the time he had been climbing for about an hour and a half, he had a pretty good basic understanding for how the game worked. Suddenly, though, he started hearing a bell, like a church bell. The loud ringing caught him off guard, and nearly caused him to fall.

"Woah!" He cried, "What's this ringing?"

"When you start hearing a bell, it means you're almost at the top." Answered the voice. "I'm up here already. Come on, you're almost out!"

"What? The way out is up at the top."

"For the night, yeah."

"What do you mean 'for the night'?"

"I'll explain later. I'm leaving. If you make it out of here alive too, we'll meet again."

"Hey, wait a second!"

Too late. The voice did not answer him. Three stories below him , Naruto saw the floor collapse again. He better hurry. He had come to another four story wall. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_ He summoned one clone. He pulled out one block from the wall while the clone pulled out the next, then they pushed them together. Naruto hoped on, then pulled out another block. The clone hoped up on that one. Naruto climped up the clone's back, and then steadily jumped off to grab the edge of the wall. The clone vanished as Naruto pulled himself up.

He pulled out another block to climb up the two-story wall. He climbed up a bunch of more oddly placed blocks, until he reached the top. Just across a gap and some more blocks was a red block, on which was a door, much like the one that had brought Naruto in. Almost there! He pushed the block in front of him forth. It clung to the edge of the block under it, not falling. Naruto hopped across it like a bridge. Finally, he made it to the red block, the one with the door!

"Phew!" Naruto cried triumphently, "I made it!" Suddenly, he heard singing, as though he were in a Catholic church during a chorus. "So, I can get out through here?" He reached for the door, felt the door knob, and twisted it. It turned without issue. He steadily opened it, taking caution, and out cracked a blinding white light. Naruto took a step back and shielded his eyes.

Before he could step in, however, he suddenly heard a groaning and a rumbling sound, coming from below. Naruto looked down. There were about four more stories of blocks remaining. In the abyss was a dark black cloud, that seemed to be rising up.

"NARUTO!" moaned a deep, echoing voice. It sent shivers down Naruto's spine, but at the same time, he almost recognized it. He felt like he knew the voice from someone he knew.

Out from the dark cloud all of a sudden, reached two massive, strong-looking gauntleted hands. They were gnarled, grey, rotting, disgusting, as though belonging to a dead man and decaying. One one hand was what looked like a popsicle stick. To Naruto, the hands looked rather familiar. Still, they were pretty horrifying.

"Woah! Shit!" Naruto hissed. No way he was sticking around to try to take on this thing. He swung open the door, and quickly stepped in to the white, blinding, warm light.

**Author's Comments: Well, there's chapter three. Naruto's first nightmare sequence. I hope everyone enjoyed it.**

**I must say I'm impressed by how popular this story has gotten. It turns out Catherine is more popular than I thought it was.**

**Now a few of my fans have said that my first lemon here was kind of brief. Thing is I'm new to writing lemons (not new to reading them) For my next lemon, I would appreciate it if someone could volunteer to help me out with that. Maybe I'll find someone in a forum I'm in, but I don't know. Would any of my readers here be interested in helping me? If so, I'll let you know when my next lemon is. I don't know yet though. It probably won't come for a few more chapters.**

**Anyway, I'll be bringing more up soon. Thank you everyone who has read, reviewed, favored, or subscribed, and I hope I'll be getting more of that in the future. **


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto's eyes shot open. His body was trembling and sweaty. He was still groggy, his eyes still blurry, so his vision took another second to clear up. He looked up at the plain white ceiling. He could see a window on the wall at his right, sunlight seeping in through the blinds.

He took a second to remember. He was alone at the ramen bar last night, Shikamaru and the others had gone to the motel room. A really hot girl came and sat with him, and then took him back to her room here. _That's where I am!_ Naruto exclaimed in his mind,_ Catherine-san's room._ He sighed in relief, realizing that his scary dream was over. He could not remember it well now, but now he was safe at last.

And then, he remembered. He still had to catch up with Shikamaru and the guys! What time was it? How long had he slept in? Maybe they left without him!

He tried to raise his upper body, but he did get far up. He found out that something was clutching his left arm, holding him down. He carefully scooted around until he was sitting up, the thing still holding his arm, until he could see what it was.

He saw it was the still-naked body of Catherine, hugging his arm, still asleep. She looked really cute as she slept there like that.

That was when he remembered everything from last night. _Wow!_ He thought. _I had sex for the second time in my life!_

He heard Catherine groan ever so quietly. After another second, she blinked, and slowly awakened herself. When she saw Naruto staring back down at her, she smiled sweetly.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning," he smiled back.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Um... no not really. I had this really scary dream."

"Really? What was it about?" Her smiled dropped a little and she looked more serious and interested.

"Umm..." Naruto actually did remember a few parts of it, but he still forgot some of it, and he did not really want to tell them all to a girl he still just met and slept with. "I don't really remember," he finally coughed out.

"Oh. Okay." She smiled again. "Last night was terrific, by the way."

"Yeah. You were great. Thanks for that." Naruto smiled awkwardly. Now that he was thinking about it, it was a little awkward sleeping with a girl after just meeting her an hour ago, maybe less. But as long as it was just a one-night stand, it did not matter too much. "Woah!"

Suddenly, she sat up more, and crawled up onto this chest. Steadying herself on his chest, she sat up on his groin. She sat there before him, her body shimmering in the sunlight coming from the window behind her. Her breasts jiggling as she became still.

"Um, would you mind not staring at me like that?" Catherine said suddenly, "it's kind of creepy."

"What? Oh, heh... Sorry," Naruto stuttered awkwardly and tried to look away at the wall.

"Hey, listen," Catherine continued in a more serious tone. "I don't just sleep with every guy I meet. I brought you here because I like you."

_She likes me?_ Naruto repeated in his mind. "Wh-What do you mean you like me?"

"Well, I think you're handsome, you're cool, smart, funny. I really think there's something special about you."

"Oh, heh... Woah. Okay."

"So, how do you feel about me?" She gently held his chin with her thumb and index finger and turned him toward her.

"What? Oh, well... I guess you're cute," He stuttered, "and you're funny too. And, well, I didn't think a girl like you would ever-you know, do this, with a guy like me. It feels a little... odd, I guess. I can't quite explain it."

"So... it was love at first sight for you too?"

_What? 'Me too'? What did she mean by that?_ "Well, I, um..." He was interrupted as she lay down on him for a moment, pressing her soft, warm body against his.

"Oh, wait a minute," She said suddenly, freezing up. She straitened up and slid off of him.

"What? What is it?" Naruto shot up and got a little frantic. He was afraid he did something wrong. "I'm sorry. Whatever I did I'm sorry."

"You said you still have to meet with your friends for the mission, right?" Catherine started picking up her clothes. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she was slipping back into her bra and underwear.

Naruto remembered the mission. "Oh, right!"

"Yeah. I should probably get to work too." She slipped her girdle and sash back on, then turned around to face him and sighed. "This sucks. I really wanted to spend some more time with you. I guess we'll have to wait until later."

Naruto paused for a second. "Wait? Later?"

"You said you're leaving to go back to your village with some supplies today, right?" She continued. "About what time do you think you'll be leaving?"

"Uh, I don't know, about noon-ish I guess. Some time in the afternoon before sunset, probably."

"Okay, I'll see you at the front gate then."

"What? What for?" Naruto was getting kind of confused.

"To go with you, of course, silly!"

"What? You're coming back to our village?... With _me_?"

Suddenly, Catherine looked a little sad, "You mean you're seeing someone already?"

"What? No, I'm not dating anyone."

"Well then, what are you afraid of?"

"Um... nothing I guess."

"Well then, I'll see you and your friends at the village gate at noon-ish." Her smile returned, brighter this time. She pulled on her stockings.

"You're going to leave here with me?" Naruto finally understood what she was saying. "But, what about your job here?"

"Oh, I'm about to get fired soon anyway. They say I'm not really fitting their products anymore," She replied in a 'oh, don't worry about it' kind of tone.

"Okay, uh-is that the only thing you have going for you here?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"No friends or boyfriend or anything."

"Nope, no real friends. And if I had a boyfriend, do you think I'd sleep with you? Don't worry. I'm not the cheating kind."

"Oh. Okay then."

"You better get dressed quick. Don't want to make your friends wait any longer."

* * *

><p>About five minutes later, Naruto, dressed back up in his clothes from last night, headed for the door, but not before his lover gave him a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek.<p>

"See ya soon," She smiled.

"Yeah, okay. See you then." Naruto smiled back awkwardly.

He opened the door and headed out into the hallway._ What's with that chick?_ He thought. _We just met and she wants to leave town with me? Am I really going to bring her home? What will everyone at home think of her? I thought this was just going to be a one night stand._

He stepped across the hall and reached for the knob to the room where the guys had stayed. He slowly opened the door, careful not to wake the other guys if they were still asleep.

Not a very effective move. Kiba jumped him out onto his shoulders from the corner, scaring the shit out of him.

"Hey! There he is!" Kiba shouted, "_Good_ morning lover boy!" Shikamaru, Lee and Akamaru all came around from behind the wall to the rest of the beds onto the scene. Kiba reached over and flipped the light switch, lighting up the room. It was about the same as Catherine's, only with two beds instead of just one. Everyone was fully dressed and ready to go.

"Woah! Kiba! What the hell?" Naruto shouted back. Still laughing, Kiba got off of him.

Naruto turned to Shikamaru. "Uh, sorry I didn't come back last night, guys." He scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, it's fine man." Shikamaru smiled at him.

"What? You're not mad or anything?"

"Not a at all, you lucky dog!"

Naruto was pretty confused. He thought that Shikamaru especially would be a little mad at him for not being on time and inconveniencing everyone, although he never got specific orders to hurry back soon before the end of the night.

"You see, when we came back here, we did not go right to sleep," Lee continued. "We figured you would come in and wake us all up when you were done, so we didn't bother going to sleep."

"Akamaru and I fell right asleep though," Kiba smirked. Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Anyway," Shikamaru continued, "after a while, we heard your voice coming down the hallway, but then we also heard you talking to someone else."

Kiba continued "They peaked through that little whole in the door, and lo and behold, you got yourself a girl! Lee and Shikamaru woke me up to see. At first, I didn't believe it, but then I saw for myself, and wow!"

"Wait, you guys were _spying_ on me?" Naruto asked in shock.

"I wouldn't call it spying," said Shikamaru, getting defensive. "We just saw you go into her room, and that was the end of it. Man, we were giggling like little schoolgirls."

"I'm so jealous of you, Naruto-kun," Lee sulked. "You seem to be getting all the girls lately."

"So, how did it go with her?" Asked Kiba, intrigued.

"Pretty good, I guess," Naruto answered nervously. "She was really nice in bed."

"Just really nice?" Kiba retorted, "A girl that cute and sex with her was just 'really nice'?

"Hey, do I have to tell you all the details of my sex life?" Naruto snapped.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Kiba backed down.

"So, does she want to see you again?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto hesitated a mintue before answering. "Well, she wants to meet us at the gates of town at about noon and come home with me."

"Woah-ho-ho!" Kiba laughed, "Sounds like she really likes you! So, you're going to pick her up, right?"

"Well, we just met. Why does she want to get so close to me already?"

"Obviously, she liked you. She wants to be your girlfriend. I say you should take her."

"_Catherine_, as my _girlfriend_?" Naruto repeated.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure I like her that much. Besides, what about Sakura-chan and Hinata?"

"Don't worry about them," Kiba insisted, "You've kept quiet from them of anything serious since after the battle with Pain. Now wouldn't be a good time to ask them out, like you said. Just play along, see how things go with Catherine, and if it turns out she's not your type, just break it off with her."

"I'm not like you, Kiba," Naruto muttered. "I don't think I could just shrug off a relationship that I might not be committed to."

"Come on, Naruto," Shikamaru said, "It's like we talked about last night. You should try things out with girls you meet. Dating is a really fun thing with different girls besides ones you really like. During the two years you were gone, I actually dated a couple girls. Neither one was really all that cool though, and we broke up after a couple of weeks each. Lee and Kiba here went on a couple of dates themselves."

"Give it a try," Lee insisted, "I mean, you like Catherine-san, right? And what have you got to loose?"

"My chances with Sakura-chan for one thing." Naruto answered.

"Don't worry about her," Kiba repeated. "So you date one girl, what's the worst she's going to think of you?"

Naruto was silent for another second.

"Well, just think about it," Shikamaru shrugged. "Right now, we need to go get breakfast and get on with our mission."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, under a grey cloudy sky where the sun barely penetrated the clouds, the four boys were seen leading a convoy of at least eight horse-draw wagons through the village. The meeting with the village leader had gone flawlessly, and he had agreed to help Konoha by sending the supplies. Each wagon was filled with metal, medical supplies, paper, and various other materials that was needed in Konoha. Each one also had about three workers to guide them. Shikamaru and Naruto were in the front, with Kiba and Lee overseeing things in the rear.<p>

All along, Naruto kept thinking about Catherine. Shikamaru noticed this, and seeing that there was no problem with the convoy, decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, what's she like?" He asked. "What's her personality like?"

"I don't really know," Naruto replied. "I didn't really get to know her that well."

"Well, did you learn _anything_ from the time you spent with her?"

Naruto thought hard for a second, remembering the things Catherine said and did. "Well, I guess she's kind of odd, a little clumsy. Somewhat of a dope. She has a good taste in friends, and certainly in men." He smirked at those last words.

"She doesn't sound like that bad of a person," Shikamaru said.

Finally, they came the large wooden gate that was the entrance and exit of the village. And sitting on a bench, sure enough, right by the right side of the gate was Catherine. She looked up and saw The convoy with Naruto at the head.

Immediatly, she stood up and started jogging over toward him, waving and calling "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto looked up to her. "Oh, hi, Catherine-san."

She ran up to him and gave him a big hug around the back of his neck. He lightly hugged her back.

"So, are we ready to go to Konoha?" She asked eagerly.

"Well, are you sure you want to leave?" Naruto checked with her.

"Yes. I'd love to go with you." She answered quickly, without even taking a second to reconsider.

"Umm..." Naruto turned to Shikamaru. He just looked at him intriguingly, and shrugged. It was Naruto's choice. He turned back to Catherine. Her pretty face was smiling, and she had her hands clasped over her chest. He remembered everything that he had discussed with his friends earlier that day and last night. If he did enter this relationship, what was the worst that could happen? Catherine seemed like a nice girl, and if things did not work out, he would just try to break up.

"Alright." Naruto smiled. "Let's go."

"Yay!" Catherine started jumping up and down excitedly like a high school girl.

The convoy started moving again, and out through the village gates and into the woods. Naruto, Catherine, and Shikamaru in the lead.

**Author's Comments: And that's the end of chapter four. I hope everyone enjoyed it. **

**Did you know that the voice actress who plays Catherine in the english dubbed game, Laura Bailey, also played several girls in the Naruto english dub, including Anko, Shion and Fuka? I think that's pretty interesting, don't you?**

**I've been thinking. I guess it would have been better to set this story after the events of the Five Kage Summit Arc, because (SPOILER!) that's when Sakura tells Naruto she loves him, and their relationship gets a little more interesting. (End Spoiler) But the thing is I haven't watched that far yet. I just finished the Konoha History Arc, and that's a filler arc, so, well, I don't know. I can't really write about what happens after that arc.**

**Now, I'm going back to school in the next few days, so I don't know when I'll be able to update, but I will when I can. Please review, subscribe, or favor, especially review because those really get me excited about writing. Thank You.**


	5. Chapter 5

The whole day, the convoy continued traveling along the path through the woods. The skys were still cloudy, although no rain threatened. Some of the workers had small talk amongst each other, but kept quiet for the most part. Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru still trailed from the rear, while Naruto, Shikamaru and Catherine took the front.

_Wow, she's even cuter in person than through the door._ Shikamaru thought. _Naruto, you sly dog!_

"So, Naruto-kun," Catherine spoke up cheerfully, "this is one of your friends?"

"Yep. He's the leader of this mission too. This is Nara Shikamaru," Naruto answered, "One of the smartest shinobi in Konoha."

"Hmph, I'm flattered," Shikamaru huffed, "But I don't know about _smartest_."

"Oh, don't be so modest," Naruto giggled, but then he whispered to Catherine, "He can get a little whiny sometimes though, I gotta warn ya."

"I heard that!" Shikamaru hissed. "I'm not that _whiny _anymore!"

Catherine could not help laughing at the bickering friends. "So, Konoha, what's it like?" She asked when the bickering and laughter died down. "I've never been there before."

"It's not looking really great now," Shikamaru muttered.

"Yeah, remember that invader I told you about last night?" Naruto added, "He beat down the place pretty hard, and destroyed most of the village."

"Oh, that's right." Catherine sadly remembered what Naruto had told her last night. But then she cheered up and smiled at Naruto. "But of course, then you beat the crap out of him and drove him off, right Naruto-kun?"

While Naruto blushed, Shikamaru answered for him. "He did more than that. After he defeated the invader, he talked him into reviving everyone he killed."

Catherine's' eyes widened. "WHAT? Seriously? How can anyone do that?"

"He knew really advanced techniques," Naruto replied. "Some people even thought he was a God."

Still surprised at the idea of someone bringing an entire village back from the dead, Catherine tried to move the conversation forward.

"So, what was Konoha like before this invasion?"

"It was a beautiful, thriving metropolis," Naruto answered, smiling as he remembered the beauty of his hometown. "There were huge buildings, busy streets, it was a really cool place. I bet you would have loved it there before, Catherine-san."

"I'm sure I would have," Catherine smiled back.

"Well, we got all these supplies here," Shikamaru continued. "Hopefully, if we use all these things, slowly we'll rebuild Konoha to its former glory."

"So, what is it now?" Catherine asked, "A collection of tents and shacks and buildings that are in the middle of reconstruction?"

"Yep. Pretty much," Shikamaru said.

"Well, I'm sure it won't be_ so_ bad living there right now," Catherine continued cheerfully. "It sounds a lot like camping."

"Well, I guess its somewhat like that." Shikamaru shrugged.

"So, when are we going to get there?"

"If we keep moving, stop for the night when it gets dark and without further delay at this rate? Probably tomorrow afternoon."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the other end of the convoy, Kiba and Lee were having their own little talk.<p>

"Can you believe it, Kiba?" Lee exclaimed, "Another girl has fallen for Naruto-kun!"

"I know! I'm shocked too! And so is Akamaru, right buddy?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I really can't wait until we stop for the night. I wanna meet this girl," Kiba continued.

"Me too."

"You know, at first, I thought maybe she was a prostitute, but it sounds like she and Naruto have more going on for them."

"So it seems, but how do you know that? We haven't seen her since last night."

"Well, Naruto said they were going to meet by the village gat this afternoon, right? What else do you think we stopped for back then?"

Lee was quiet for a second. "Hmph. Good point. So then, she must be at the front of the convoy with Naruto-kun and Shikamaru-san?"

"I guess so."

Suddenly, Akamaru sniffed the air, and started growling. Sensing it, Kiba sniffed the air himself, and could see what was getting his little pal worked up. He could smell at least twelve sources of a new similar scent, one of them filled with a dark chakra, approaching fast. _Bandits!_

"We got company," He whispered to Lee.

Immediatly, Lee stopped. He crouched down low, and his face turned serious. "Whoever these guys are, let's show them who they're messing with!" He hissed.

"You know the drill!" Already, as they Shikamaru had told them to do, Kiba had hopped up one of the wagon roofs, and started hopping across them to the front of the convoy. Akamaru stayed behind to aid Lee. His legs firm in a stance, an his sharp teeth were shown as he growled.

It was but a few seconds before Kiba reached the front wagon of the convoy. As soon as they sensed his presence on the roof behind them, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Catherine all turned around.

"Shikamaru, we got trouble," Kiba announced.

"How many?"

Kiba took a quick whiff of the air. "We got at least eleven bandits. Nothing really tough. There's a twelfth guy though. He seems to have a dark aura of chakra."

Shikamaru shrugged indifferently. "Well, sounds like nothing we can't handle."

It was then that Kiba noticed the cute little blonde lady at Naruto's side.

"Hey there, you must be Catherine," He grinned.

"Yep, that's me," She smiled back.

"Guys, we can have introductions later," Shikamaru barked.

"Right!" Naruto shouted in a serious tone. He turned to Catherine. "Catherine-san, I want you to wait inside this wagon here until this is over."

"Okay," Catherine answered. She seemed to be grasping the concept of the situation, for she seemed more worried by now. Without any arguing, she dashed over to the wagon, and climbed in into the back, disappearing behind the curtains.

"You should get to cover too," Naruto said to the wagon driver.

The middled-aged driver nodded, a stern look on his face. He pulled the reins, halting the horse, and crawled into the back of the wagon as well.

"Kiba!" Shikamaru ordered, "Warn all the divers and workers! Naruto, get the defense ready!"

"Right!" Both boys barked in unison. Kiba hopped back behind to the wagon behind the first, and started barking at the driver to get inside the wagon.

Naruto did his signature hand seal. _Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!_ A dozen clouds of smoke poofed up around Naruto, as a couple dozen clones were created. The different divisions ran around the sides of the convoy, covering it on all sides, so that no bandits could get through.

By now, a few sword wielding bandits dressed in dark leather clothes had sprung up from the bushes, and were trying to match Lee in close combat, with little success.

Akamaru had a guy's leg in his mouth, and was shaking him around in the dirt furiously. Two more, however, were coming in to aid their friend.

"Akamaru! Let's smash 'em!" Kiba cried as he couched down on the rim of the last wagon, and took a flying leap off to the right of the bandits. Following his master's orders, Akamaru dashed out toward their left.

_Gatsuga!_ (Fang Over Fang) The two leaped at their opponents, corkscrewing like two powerful drills. Before the bandits could dodge aside, the drills smashed them square in the stomach, crashing them into the ground on their backs. The bandits yowled in pain as the drills dug into their stomachs, and pressed them harder against the earth.

After a second, the duo ran out of power, and sprang back. Their worked seemed done. The bandits were clearly unconscious, still as death, fresh blood dripping from the two gaping wounds in their black jackets.

"Good job, boy!" Kiba exclaimed. Akamaru barked happily.

They looked over to their right. Lee was battling three foes, two of which held katanas, while the third spun the chained mace of a kusarigama. The spiked metal mace suddenly lurched forward, but Lee managed to kick it back. It swung around and smashed one of the swordsmen in the head with a loud clunk! The man's skull must have been cracked, for the force of the blow pushed his body town lifelessly.

"You got this one, Lee?" Kiba shouted at this comrade.

"Yep!" Lee turned to him and gave him the thumbs up as a the second swordsman charged. Without even looking, Lee caught the man's arm, roundhouse kicked his legs, and elbowed him back, sending him tumbling across the street until he hit a tree.

Kiba and Akamaru decided that Lee had this end of the convoy taken care of. Kiba nodded to his dog, deciding to take the left flank. The dashed off to the middle of the convoy.

At the front, Shikamaru was fighting off three guys, each with swords. He was held a kunai to parry one charging at him. He side-stepped another charging, narrowly missing a swing. He lept back to get some more distance between them.

When he was a yard away, he crouched down. _Rat, Bird. Kage Nui no Jutsu_ (Shadow Sewing Jutsu) His black shadow slithered forth, then rose up from the ground into snake-like forms, and stabbed each bandit lightly in the leg.

Each one screamed and grunted in pain. Blood started gaping from their wounds. They weren't hit in any fatal points, put it was enough to slow them down, for sure.

On the right side of the convoy, Naruto was dealing with two more. He didn't even have to raise a finger to stop them. His clones just leapt out from their position around the convoy, and pummeled the bandits until they were unconscious.

_A little unstylish,_ he thought, _but this is hardly even a battle anyway._

Kiba and Akamaru had stood atop a wagon in the middle of the convoy on the leftmost side. Kiba took another sniff of the air to see if there were any more bandits. The air smelled of blood, but none of his comrade's blood, so he was okay.

He caught a whiff of the dark chakra source. He could sense it in the trees off the road. He looked over in the said direction, and saw the source: Standing under the trees was a hooded figure in a purple cloak.

"Hey! You!" Kiba shouted. He jumped down from the wagon and charged over toward the figure.

The figure's response was to lift his hands, bite one thumb, do a quick series of hand seals, and slam the ground. _Kuchiyose no jutsu!_ (summoning jutsu). A huge puff of smoke was called forth. Kiba and Akamaru stopped in their tracks to see what was summoned.

When the smoke started to clear, the first thing Kiba saw was six large, rusty-looking steel beams. The beams were each about seven feet high, and had joints at the ends which connected to more organic-looking legs connecting to a point in the middle, giving the beast a spider-like look. The six legs connected to what would be six arms of what was in the center: a pale, obese, naked person. The person had his eyes closed, a metal clamp around his head, and a tube, containing a black liquid, connecting his mouth to his groin.

The entire creature, esepcially that last detail, really grossed Kiba out. He didn't show it though. He just narrowed his eyes and grunted.

"Destroy them!" The hooded figure commanded in a hoarse, though male voice.

The monster's head suddenly extended from its neck, as though it were an accordion, and gave a metallic screech. It's legs started stepping toward Kiba, again moving like a spider, the rusty joints screeching with each movement. Kiba then noticed the sharp, but still rusty, dagger and talon-like fingers at the end of each of the legs.

Kiba just waited for it to come, giving it the chance of the first move to see what it could do.

The monster suddenly raised his left front claw, and slammed it down. Kiba and Akamaru split to the sides to dodge it though. It raked up some earth as it withdrew its claw again.

Next, it quickly took a few steps to turn towards Kiba, who skid to a halt. The human body pulled back, and suddenly moaned loudly in a high-pitched voice, and a torrent of the black liquid erupted from its mouth.

Kiba was quick to barrel roll in his direction more, and then jump out of the way when he had good footing. The vomit missed him, but instead hit the ground, a few trees and pushes. There was a sizzling sound. If Kiba had looked away from the monster, he would see that the tree bark, leaves, grass, and bushes were all being dissolved. He did take a glance and saw it though.

Shikamaru, Naruto, and Lee suddenly jumped into the fight and saw what was going on.

"What's this?" Lee asked.

"The hooded guy over there summoned it. He's the dark chakra we've been sensing," Kiba called back.

Shikamaru looked at the dissolved plants. _Poor things._ "So, it spits acid?" He asked Kiba.

"Yep."

The monster swung its right arm towards Kiba again, but he simply jumped over it, and rolled up to a kneeling position upon hitting the ground. But then the monster's arm swung back the other way, this time hitting Kiba and sending him tumbling just a few feet down onto the road.

He quickly recovered from the blow though, and got into his kneeling position again. In a flash, he snatched a cluster of shuriken from his pouched, and threw them at the monster, aiming for its bloated belly.

The three blades struck just below the waistline, and stuck into it like as though it were a foam target. The monster seemed only slightly agitated by it, as though it were a mosquito bite. As the bystanders looked closely, they saw a small trickle of blood dripping from the wound.

But also something else. A few drops of the black liquid the monster threw up trickled down in a few drops, and dripped down onto the ground, again dissolving the grass to dirt. Some also started dripping on the shuriken, and dissolved the blades until eventually the sharp tips were dissolved, and they fell to the ground.

Kiba didn't notice this though.

"Come on, Akamaru!" He barked, "let's finish this!"

The dog barked in agreement. From both sides, the duo pulled back and got ready to strike with a full-force Gatsuga.

"Kiba, stop!" Shikamaru shouted. He crouched down. _Rat, Bird. Kage Nui no Jutsu_. His shadow slithered in towards the monster, coiling around each leg and holding the monster at bay. Its size and strength made it difficult to hold, especially when it got frustrated and started struggling. Shikamaru pushed a little harder to keep the beast down, and gritted his teeth.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"If my analysis of this thing is correct," the leader grunted, "if we attack it with a close combat move, its would will squirt acid over us. For all we know, it could even, explode and splash acid on the convoy! We gotta destroy it from a safe distance somehow."

"Safe distance..." Naruto took about five seconds to think of a good approach. Shikamaru probably would have been able to come up with a solution by then, but the holding down the monster needed most of his concentration.

"I got it!" Naruto exclaimed.

He raised his fingers to the cross. _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_ About thirty more clones appeared behind him. They each headed back to the convoy, met up with the clones back there, and each stacked up on top of each other, forming a cheer-leader's style pyramid that covered most of the convoy from that side. Two clones, however, stayed at Naruto's side.

"Guys, get behind the wall!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm going to send a Rasengan at it!"

Quickly catching on to Naruto's plan, Shikamaru released his shadow, freeing the enraged monster, who growled in a dialect as though he were drowning, and threw its legs up in a fit, and slammed them down into the earth, cleaving the dirt.

"Retreat!" Shikamaru barked. Obeying their leader, Kiba, Akamaru and Lee all followed him behind the wall. Naruto followed them. They each crouched behind a wagon for good measure.

The two clones Naruto left behind put their hands together and formed a Rasengan in one's hand, but then the second's hand joined in, and the ball increased in size, creating the Giant Rasengan.

Together, the two clones charged toward the monster. Seeing the approaching hazard, it vomited another wave of acidic sludge, but the clones managed to dodge to the left of it, not a drop hitting them.

They were close now. The monster raised its front legs and slammed at them again, but they rolled forth, missing the claws. Finally, they sprang up and rammed the sphere of chakra into the monster's breast.

_Oodama Rasengan!_

The sphere dug into the monster's gut, and finally exploded, covering the area in a light dust cloud. As predicted, a blob of sludge (with a mix of blood) exploded from the monster. Some splashed off and hit more plants in the forest.

Any of it that was heading toward the convoy splashed onto the clone wall. Any clone that got splashed, which was just about all of them, all pooffed away, taking the slime with them. The wall had successfully shielded the entire convoy. Of course, the two clones that have struck the monster were dissolved in the explosion.

Once the dust cleared, the boys looked over to see the monster, or what was left of it rather, laying down on the ground, belly-up, covered in sludge and blood, and its legs curled up inwards.

"Hmph. Way to go, Naruto," Kiba grinned.

"Yeah. That was really clever," Shikamaru added..

"Thanks," Naruto did one of his trademark smiles. Suddenly he remembered something. "Oh, Kiba, you okay? He hit you."

"What? Oh yeah. I'm fine. He didn't hit me that hard."

"Great!" Lee cheered.

"Now, let's go grab that guy who summoned him and put and end to this," Shikamaru ran off toward the woods where the hooded man was running.

"Yeah! Let's show him what happens when you mess with our team!" Lee cheered again as he, Kiba and Akamaru all ran after him.

Naruto was about to follow when he suddenly remembered something. "Okay, uh, you guy's go ahead. I'm going to stay with the convoy."

"Good idea. You do that," Shikamaru called back.

Naruto started running to the front of the convoy where he had left Catherine. When he was about to get to the first wagon, he saw something that made his spine shiver.

A pool of blood was seeping out from the corner, from between the two wagons. Was it Catherine's blood?

Naruto jumped around the corner to face the source of the blood. On one hand, he was relieved to see that it wasn't Catherine.

It was a man. He was laying sideways, his gaze pointed in Naruto's direction. He had lightly-tanned skin, a white bandana over his forehead, and a goatee. He must have been in his early thirties. He wore the same kind of leather clothes that the other bandits wore, so he must have been one of them.

His clothes ere all bloody. Naruto saw in the back of his neck was the blade of what may have been a kitchen knife.

"Hey, Catherine-san, where are you?" He called out.

Catherine's blonde little head popped out from the curtain of the wagon, to Naruto's relief.

"Naruto-kun. Is the battle over?" She smiled innocently, looking really cute. "Did you scare off all those punks?"

"Uh... yeah. We got 'em. The other guys are just finishing off the last guy."

"Oh, I knew you would beat them. Those bastards are no match for my big tough Naruto-kun." She hopped out of the wagon, and walked over to Naruto and gave him a hug.

Naruto, feeling really awkward at first, hugged her back. After a second, he remembered the body.

"Hey, what happened here?" He pulled away and pointed down at the body.

"What that?" She replied. "Oh, well, this bandit almost broke into the wagon, but the driver grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the neck before he could get to either of us." She pulled back the curtain so Naruto could look inside. The driver sat in the corner looking dumbfounded. Naruto also looked over the rest of the wagon, noticing a lot of pots and pans staked up. This wagon had cooking utensils.

"Wow, did that really happen?" Naruto asked the driver.

"Huh? Uh- yeah. I got him," the man replied nervously.

Naruto turned back to Catherine. For someone who had just witnessed a murder up close, she looked pretty happy and calm and indifferent.

She smiled again. "We're both okay. He didn't hurt either of us and didn't steal anything."

"Well, okay then..."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru and the other guys soon returned with the body of the captured enemy. He did not put up a very tough fight, aside from the one monster he started with, and was an easy battle. Before he was captured though, the performed one final justu, that caused his eyes to pop out, and for blood to flow from his eyes and mouth and nose. By now, he seemed dead, or in a coma. None of the boys could really tell.<p>

Now they were just planning to bring back the body so a forensics or autopsy team could figure out more about him, as in what village he came from, why he attacked them, things like that. Shikamaru guessed he was a rogue from another village who stooped to robbery for a living.

Kiba and Lee got a brief chance to see Catherine before Shikamaru ordered them to get back to their positions.

Naruto showed the bandit who got stabbed to Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't seem worried at all. He said the wagon driver would be okay. He said that because the murder was in self defense, the murder was legal, and the driver was off the hook. Nobody needed to know about it. They passed by a pond later that day, and made the body sink down to the bottom by tying it to some rocks.

Soon, night fell, and the convoy was to stop for the night. The workers and drivers all ate their own diners inside their wagons while the boys had some chili around a fire just a few feet away. Catherine sat in between Naruto and Kiba. She liked Akamaru, and was petting his belly while he lay down before her.

"You didn't tell me your friend had such a cute puppy, Naruto-kun," she giggled.

"I didn't know you really liked dogs," Naruto murmured as he took another bite of chili.

"You think he's cute now?" Shikamaru smirked, "You should have seen him three years ago. He was so tiny he could fit on Kiba's head, or in his shirt."

"Oh my God!" She squealed, "I can picture it right now! I must have been adorable back then! You're just so cute you little thing!" She rubbed Akamaru's belly more. He panted and 'smiled' more.

Kiba smiled. "Yep, girls love Akamaru. You're kind of lucky though. He usually doesn't let strangers pet him like that. Its just with people he kind of knows. I guess he just really likes you, and I can't really blame him."

"I'm happy we finally get to meet you, Catherine-san," said Lee. "I've been so eager ever since we heard Naruto-kun was with you last night."

"Well, it's really nice to meet you guys too," Catherine smiled and sat back, deciding to leave Akamaru alone for a minute. "Naruto-kun has some really nice friends. I'm so happy for that." Akamaru crept up and sat down in between Catherine and Kiba.

"I have to say," said Shikamaru, "it's pretty gutsy a thing you're doing here. You're just dropping everything you have in that village to come with us and be with Naruto."

"Oh, I didn't have that much there," Catherine shurgged, "I had this meager job as a model, and no family or real friends there."

"Where _is_ your family?" Lee asked.

"They're all back in England."

"Woah! That's a long way!" Kiba remarked.

"I meant to ask you," Naruto spoke up. "How did you end up moving all the way from England to Japan here three years ago?"

"It was for work. The clothes company I was working for was setting up base in Japan here."

"Wait, you mean you left the company you worked at for over three years for a guy you had a one-night stand with? And that one guy being Naruto?" Kiba snickered. Naruto rolled his eyes at that last comment.

"Nah. That company fired me about a year ago. I started working for this one a few months ago."

"Why would the first guys fire you?" Lee asked.

"They said I didn't really compliment their latest designs," Catherine shrugged.

"Wow, then they gotta have some really messed up designs," Naruto murmured. Catherine giggled at that.

"So, enough about me. What about you guys?"

"What about us?" Kiba asked.

"Well, I already know a little about Shikamaru, what about you and Lee?"

"Oh, well-" before Kiba could finish, Lee interrupted.

"I am Rock Lee, the Handsome Devil of Konoha, and a master of taijutsu! Everything I have- my skills, looks, will- was inheirited from my sensei, Might Guy."

Catherine giggled. "So you're the spitting image of your sensei, you're saying? That's really cool, that you have such a strong bond as that."

"Yep. We've all formed so good bonds with our teachers," Shikamaru answered. He was somewhat saddened as he remembered Asuma. Naruto felt the same as he started thinking about Jiraiya.

"What's your story, Kiba-kun?" Catherine turned to the Inuzuka.

"Well, I'm from Konoha's Inuzuka clan. We train and fight with ninken, or ninja hounds. When I was a kid, my mom entrusted me with Akamaru. Since then, he and I have been inseparable. We've been through pretty much everything together, whether it was missions or just chilling." He gave his pal a pat on the head, then scratched him a little under the ears. "We're like brothers."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Catherine cooed.

After getting the basic introductions down, and having gotten to know one another, they just sat in silence for a few minutes, eating their chili.

"So, Catherine," Kiba spoke up when he was done. "What are you going to do when we get back to Konoha, do you think?"

"I'll probably live with Naruto-kun in his tent." She turned to Naruto with a seductive look in her eyes. "That's okay with you, right Naruto-kun? You can squeeze me in, can't you?" Her soft tone of voice sent a shiver down his spine and made his blood run cold.

"Of course I can," He smiled.

"I think Kiba meant what are you going to do for work," Shikamaru continued. "I mean we said that the village is pretty beat up. You're an able body, and we need all the help we can get."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find something I can do while I'm there."

"Yeah," Naruto added. "We can talk to Shizune about it. I'm sure she'll find something Catherine-san can do."

"Who's Shizune?" She asked.

"Shizune is our Hokage's assistant. The Hokage is our village leader."

"You know," Lee added, "It is Naruto-kun's dream to become Hokage so he can protect our village and all who are precious to him."

"Really?" Catherine's eyes widened. "Wow. That's deep. That's really cool that you want to do that."

After another minute, everyone was done eating, and all stood up with their bowls and put out the fire.

"Alright," Shikamaru announced. "We should be back at Konoha tomorrow somewhere in the afternoon. Let's all get some sleep.

"What do you 'let's all'?" Kiba grunted. "Remember earlier you said that you needed me and Akamaru to stay up and stay on the lookout for any more enemies?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Forgot about that." Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "Good remembering."

"Don't you think we should all stay up then?" Naruto asked.

"Nah. We really only need one to stay up," Shikamaru replied.

"Besides," Kiba added, "This way you can spend some more time with your little girlfriend."

Naruto turned to Catherine, who smiled at him.

"Oh, right. Ha."

"And I'll take these bowls back to the kitchen supplies wagon," Lee announced, "But of course, first I'll give them a good scrubbing." The other four each handed their bowl and spoon to him, and he carried it all back towards the front of the convoy.

"Thank you, Lee-san," Catherine called after him. She leaned in closer to Naruto and hugged his arm. "So, shall we retire, Naruto-kun?" She smiled at him.

"Alright," He nodded. "Since we can't sleep in the wagons, let's just set up a bedroll under the trees over there." He pointed over toward the edge of the forest.

"Okay. Let's go behind some trees where we can have _some_ privacy."

"Good night, guys," Shikamaru smiled before turning and heading after Lee.

"Don't get too carried away," Kiba smirked before jumping up onto the wagon tops. Akamaru yipped at them and jumped up after Kiba.

Alone again, the couple walked off toward the woods.

* * *

><p>Naruto set down a large blanket and two pillows under a tree. Being a shinobi, he was accustom to sleeping in harsher situations, without beds or pillows or blankets. Catherine, a civilian, on the other hand, he was worried not so much. She did not complain though.<p>

"I like your friends, Naruto-kun," She said.

"I'm glad you do. They're great guys."

"Hey, can you take off your shirt?" She asked him.

The sudden question caught him off guard. "What? Oh, I'm not comfortable with doing it out in the open like this."

Catherine laughed. "No, silly. I don't want to do that yet. Just take off the jacket and I'll show you."

"Umm, okay." Naruto unzipped his jacket, pulled his arms out of the sleeves, and tossed it off next to a tree. He crouched down and lay out on the covers on his stomach. Catherine came over and kneeled down close to him.

"My little Naruto-kun. You've had such a busy day, haven't you?"

Naruto suddenly felt her hands on his back. "Hey what are you-" Catherine's fingers started getting rough, and she started kneading and pushing against his muscles.

"Wow, you're so tight here," she whispered. She kept massaging him. She worked her way up from his lower back up to his shoulders, rubbing and kneading hard at his tight muscles. His shoulder muscles were more tense than his lower body. Naruto felt a slight bit of pain as his muscles were forced to ease up, but in the end, it felt so good.

"Wow, that feels so good!" he whispered. "You're really good at this, Catherine-san."

"Thanks."

She continued to massage him for about ten minutes, it might have been. By then, Naruto felt so comfortable, so relaxed, so loose, so peaceful, so sleepy. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"Goodnight, Naruto-kun" Catherine whispered in his ear. "I'll see you in the morning."

And that was the last thing Naruto heard before he finally drifted off to slumberland.

**Author's Comments: I am so sorry for the long update. I am back in school now, so I am probably going to be busy, so updates won't be very frequent, but I'll work here when I can.**

**How about a trivia game? The monster that the villain shinobi summoned was actually a boss from another game. Can you guess who/what it is and what game it's from?**

**Another trivia note: Did you know that the guy who plays Vincent in the english dubbed game (Troy Baker) also played the english voices of Yamato and Pain?**

**Want to know something funny? I _still_ haven't finished _Catherine_ yet! And it's been out for _how_ long now? I think I still have three more floors to go. I'm trying to save it up for when I get more in to this story and need more ideas on what to do. I already have some good ideas for the rising action. I am thinking it's just mostly going to be the climax I'm going to need more inspiration for. I'll definitely finish the game before I finish this story though.**

**Well anyway, I hope this chapter is satisfying enough until I can get the next one up and running. Thank you to everyone who is still with me, and any new fans I may have raked in. Thank you so much for all your support, and I hope you'll subscribe, favor, and especially review. Thank You.**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto did not know how much time had passed since he fell asleep before he started dreaming. You never really know when a dream really starts. To you, it starts at whatever point you first remember from it.

The first thing Naruto remembered was being stirred awake by a loud, echoing ticking noise, like a clock or pendulum. _Tick... Tick... Tick..._ His eyes cringed at each loud, sharp tick.

Finally, he opened his eyes, unable to sleep through the irritating snap. Expecting to stare up at the night sky under the trees where he and Catherine fell asleep, he was shocked to find himself looking up at a pitch black void. He sat up and tried to look around. There was absolutely nothing in the void besides him. He was not even sure what he was standing on. He seemed to just be drifting there in empty space. Still, despite how dark the place was, he could still see his hands and lower body.

He felt his head. He was still wearing his headband. He also felt two familiar, sturdy things that seemed to be glued to his skull. Ram antlers. Didn't he have a scary dream last night too? He might have had antlers in that dream too...

Before he could think any more about it, he heard a door creaking open behind him. A crack of light spread through, reaching out over and around him, continuing down the floor.

"Oh, its you," A loud voice said, spooking Naruto. "Well, what are ya waiting for? Come on."

Naruto did not sense anyone in the doorway that opened. It sounded like the voice of a young man, younger than him, and slightly lighter, more like a woman, perhaps more like a snobbish child, and somehow more foreboding. It sounded like he knew Naruto somehow.

Naruto turned around to face the doorway. "Who said that? Do I know you?" He called out.

No reply.

"Who's there?" Naruto called again, getting annoyed.

Still no answer.

Finally, Naruto figured that whoever this guy was, he was not going to talk to him. He guessed that he wanted him to go through the open door. Of course, he was not all willing to do that; to explore a strange place, doing what a mysterious stranger wanted him to do. Still, it did not look like he had much choice. He did not see much point in sitting around in the dark room, so he stood up and slowly walked toward the door.

"Come on, don't be shy! What are you afraid of? Huh?" The voice called again in a naughty tone, as though he knew something Naruto did not, which he probably did. _And_ his mannerisms reminded him of a persuasive salesmen trying to sell you some a expensive product you did not need. Naruto did not like it.

Finally, Naruto made it to the door, and slowly pushed it open. It creaked as it moved. He looked out without exiting the doorway. Before him was a row of blocks. The blocks lead upward on his right, down on his left, like a very steep stairwell.

_Wait a minute,_ Naruto thought. _Isn't this the same thing I dreamt last night? What's going on? I was just with Catherine-san in the woods, and now I'm here!_

He looked around him, and saw that the place was some kind of prison. The brown copper walls, placed some ways away from the tower, had bars built into them, and some cages were hanging by chains from high up. The chains were so long, and the roof must have been so high, higher than the tower. Some torches were mantled on the walls from holders, but the place was still pretty dark and foreboding, like one of Orochimaru's bases.

"Well? What's keeping ya?" The voice called out, this time a little more annoyed. "Get on out there!"

Naruto suddenly felt a push behind him, as though a strong arm had shoved him, and stumbled through the door onto the tower. Before he could turn around get back in, the door slammed shut. He tried to push it back in or turn the knob, but it would not budge. It was locked. Naruto cursed under his breath before he turned and looked back up at the tower, realizing he was going to have to climb it like last night.

"Hey, are you that new guy from last night?" A new voice called out. Naruto recognized this one.

"You... Are you the guy from yesterday?" He shouted out up the tower, assuming that was where the voice was coming from.

"Yeah!"

"So what? Should we just keep climbing like yesterday?"

"Yeah. And listen. Watch out for the spike blocks. When you step on them, you'll have just a second to jump across before spikes pop up. Trust me, they'll hurt like hell!"

"Really? Okay. Got it!" Naruto was happy to hear from this guy again. Deciding it was time to get moving, Naruto turned and looked up the stairwell. The blocks were set up in rows, and most looked pretty straight-forward, with two sacked in a row.

He saw one block with an opening, and rushed for it, jumping up. He then hopped up the next one, then the next, until already he was about five steps up before he came to a three-block tall wall. He pulled out one white block so he could make the jump. Again, thanks to his shinobi stamina, he could jump higher than most civilians could.

At the top, he ran across the row to get to the next white block to pull out. After he ran across one block, however, he heard sharp sound, like the sound of wood breaking. He turned back and saw holes in the top of one. It must have been one of the spike blocks the voice was talking about.

"Oh, and don't worry," the voice called out. "Each spike block can only be tripped once. After you spring one, feel free to step on it again however much you want. It won't spike again."

"You sure? Okay. Thanks!" Naruto looked over the spike block again. He could see it was orange on the sides and black on the top where the spikes came out, not white on all sides like the regular blocks.

When he had it figured out, he turned to get back to climbing.

* * *

><p>He soon came to one wall that was a stack of the heavy brown skull blocks, the kind he could not move at all. Looking on, he found another path beside the wall. A straight-up stairwell of orange spike blocks.<p>

Naruto gulped. He could not go up the skull blocks, so he had little choice besides the spikes.

He took a gulp, and charged at the first block. He stepped up onto it, and pretty much right after he jumped up from it, the spikes popped up.

"Woah!" he exclaimed. He landed on the next block, but jumped just as quick, right as the spikes popped up again. He continued to jump up the stairwell, the spikes right on his heals. They were so close, he could nearly feel them brushing against his feet, ever so slightly.

He continued to lurch his body forward though, risking falling head over heels. He struggled to keep his balance. He thought if someone was watching him, he would look pretty ridiculous. People may even be laughing at him.

Finally, he reached the top of the spike block stairs, and jumped onto a white block, and braced himself to stop against a stone skull block. He took a second to catch his breath as he looked down at the path he had just climbed up. Seventeen spike blocks he had jumped.

"I told you to watch out for those spike blocks," the voice retorted, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah... ya did," Naruto panted.

"Hey, don't forget. You can hang from blocks. It's a really useful strategy."

"Right. Got it!" Finally, Naruto stood up against the blocks, and looked at where he was. He needed to get around the skull block, it seemed. He slipped down, gripping the side of the white block he was on, and shimmied over under the skull to the other side. When he reached the other side of the block, he pulled himself up, and continued on his way.

* * *

><p>Things were running pretty smoothly for the next hour. He was able to figure out most of the puzzles and block arrangements himself. He still used his shadow clones for boosts every once in a while, getting what he could out of them, since he could still only create two at a time. He soon found out that he could push entire rows of blocks at once. It made him feel so much more powerful!<p>

It was not long before he started hearing the bell he had heard the previous night when he was nearing the top.

At one point, he had pushed a row of blocks toward one edge of the tower so he could reach a brown block that continued the way up when suddenly-

"Get out of my fucking way!" Naruto turned to see a large, humanoid sheep, wearing a grey shirt and black underpants charging toward him.

"Woah, who are- Hey!" The sheep stampeded up and pushed Naruto out of his way. Naruto almost fell off, but he grabbed onto the edge of the block before he fell. As he pulled himself up, the sheep continued on up the way Naruto was about to go.

Naruto's anger flared toward the sheep. "Who the hell was that guy?"

"He's just another guy trying to get out of here," the voice answered. "He's just really scared."

Naruto took a short breath to calm down, and dismissed whatever anger he felt against that sheep. He decided it was not worth it.

"You've come pretty far," the voice continued. "Good job! I'll see ya up at the landing. Everyone else is up here too."

Naruto's eyes widened at those last words. "Who's everyone?" he demanded.

"I'll explain when we get to the landing. Come on, you're almost there!"

Naruto looked up and saw that just up about three more flights was a red carpet block, with a string and a ring hanging from them. The sheep in the grey shirt pulled it, and down came a new flight of stairs with red carpet, which he charged up.

Naruto jogged over the row of blocks he had pushed, up the little flight of brown blocks, shimmied down around a set of white blocks with a skull block blocking the way, pulled up, and then created two shadow clones to use for boosts to climb over another set of heavy blocks.

Once he was up, he could see that the exit was just a few spaces away. He might have been able to make it if he jumped. He decided not to risk falling though, and pulled his shadow clones all up, and threw them toward carpet block, so that they made a kind of makeshift ramp.

He climbed over the ramp onto the red block, and started climbing up the red block stairs as his shadow clones dispelled in a puff of smoke.

* * *

><p>Finally, Naruto pulled up one last block, and made it up to the wide platform. The landing was about as wide as a ballroom, and all around were more of the weird sheep walking on two legs. Pews were lined up in the middle, as though in a Catholic church, a few sheep sitting down in them, with the red carpet splitting the two rows in half. The carpet lead to the edge of the landing, right into a fine wooden booth or shack of some kind, with a curtain and a thick opaque window.<p>

Beside the booth, Naruto noticed, was a small stone tower, looking like what was left of a crumbling bell tower, about twice the height of the booth. The bell he kept hearing was swinging and ringing, pushed by an unknown force. There was also a wide row of white candles lit along the edge of the landing before the booth and bell tower.

Naruto looked around at the sheep some more. While a most of them were naked, a few wore human clothes. A few were dressed in regular, every-day clothes, like a fine robe or jacket, or a sweatshirt or flak jacket or t-shirt a few of them. Others wore pajamas or just their underwear, or just a tie. Oddly, pretty much none of them wore pants. One thing each of them had in common was a pair of red eyes with a dull, feral, primitive look in them.

One such sheep, somewhat fat and dressed in an unbuttoned maroon-colored vest with a gold outlining, walked up to Naruto. He also wore a dark-brown shinobi headband on his head, with a symbol engraved on the metal piece that Naruto had never seen before. It was a circle with a spiral, almost like whirlpool. To Naruto's surprise, the sheep started speaking.

"Alright," He said with a slight tone of praise. "You made it." He was the voice who had been helping him out through this.

"Huh? You're a talking sheep?" Naruto asked. He wasn't really all that shocked. After all of the talking dogs, toads, foxes and birds he had encountered in his life, why not add sheep to the list?

"Do I look like a sheep?" He replied. "To me, you're the sheep." He gestured Naruto with his hand, then gestured the rest of the room. "Everyone here is a sheep_ but_ me."

"Well from my point of view, everyone is a sheep but _me_."

"That's how it is for each individual person here."

"Person?"

"Listen. You see everyone else as sheep, right? Well they're all really human, and from each of their own personal point of view, they are the only human here, and everyone else is sheep."

"What? That doesn't make any sense! Why is it like that? Where the hell is this place? Who are you?"

"Okay, okay, relax," the sheep answered. "This landing will stay up longer than the flight of blocks. We're safe here for now. There's no need to rush."

Naruto calmed down a little, hearing that they could slow down for a while. "Okay then," he breathed. "How about we start with introductions?"

"Well, you're a Konoha shinobi, right? Okay, I'll tell ya my name if you tell me yours, and then we agree not to talk about each other outside of here."

"Okay. Deal." Naruto completely understood where he was coming from, that it was never good for a ninja to reveal their identity to someone else they just met. Still, they thought knowing each other's name would establish some trust between them.

"Yeah. Okay. Good. I am Ramu. Hitsuji Ramu, of the Hitsuji clan."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Ramu blinked and shook his head, clearly surprised to hear the name. "Uzumaki Naruto? The Kyuubi jinchuriki of Konoha? No way! I've heard so much about you!"

"Really? Like what?"

"I've heard between four and two years ago, you helped free the Land of Waves from Gato, and ended his reign of terror. You liberated the Land of Snow from Doto Kazahana, saved the Land of the Moon from an corrupt Daimyo, settled a feud in the Land of Tea, ended a chain of misery and death in Hoshigakure, and returned business to the Land of Vegetables.

"And more recently, you rescued the Fifth Kazekage from Akatsuki, saved the world from the demons Moryo and Hiruko, stopped an outbreak of war against Soragakure, and then about a week ago, you beat the Akatsuki leader and saved Konoha from his wrath. You even changed him and got him to revive everyone he killed. That's incredible!"

As Naruto listened to Ramu list all of his accomplishments, a sense of pride and joy swept over him. Who would not feel that feeling when someone talks about all the good you have done for the world?

Just then, another sheep, naked, pulled up onto the landing, panting heavily, and walked passed Ramu and Naruto.

"Now, can you tell me what the heck is going on here?" Naruto asked.

"Come on. Let's go talk over here." Ramu turned and started walking around the row of pews on the left side of the landing. Naruto followed him.

As they walked passed the pews, Naruto glanced at some of the sheep who were sitting down. The rows were pretty empty. There were only about one or two sheep per row. One had his head in his hands, sobbing. One was just sitting down, shoulders haunched, staring down at the floor. Another was staring straight off into space. One was reading some kind of book. One was drinking a glass of water. And one, one that disturbed Naruto more than the rest, had his hands covering his eyes, his head bobbing and body swaying in his seat, mumbling something under his breath that Naruto could not hear. One sheep had a cut on his arm, and was trying to hold in the bleeding with other hand. Another sheep's leg was bleeding, and another sheep was wrapping a cloth around it for him. Seeing that act of kindness gave Naruto some comfort.

He saw the sheep in the grey shirt who had shoved him earlier. He was sitting on a pew, his head in his hands, sobbing. After getting a better look at him, Naruto could see stitches and patches in his shirt, showing that their age. Naruto gave him a glare, which he barely seemed to notice, and decided to leave him alone.

They stopped at a large wooden table before the row of candles, which held a dozen glasses of water. Ramu took a glass.

"Have a drink," he insisted. "Don't worry. They're not drugged or poisoned or anything."

As Naruto felt a little confused as he reached for a glass. "Why is there water here for us? That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't really get it either. I guess its just something to keep us going, to help us keep up our strength. But remember, it's a dream, not everything has to make sense. Just use whatever you can to your advantage." Ramu turned back to the pews, and walked over and sat down. As he did, he took a sip of his water. Naruto sat down beside him.

"Drink up," Ramu urged him.

Naruto did as he was told. The water was cool and refreshing, if a little bitter. As he swallowed, and the water slipped down into his stomach, he felt some a surprising bit of strength return. It was as though there were something in water that made him feel a lot stronger. It was the feeling a sleepy person would get after drinking coffee or an energy drink.

"Wow, that's some good stuff," Naruto muttered as he licked his lips. Ramu had already finished his glass. "So, what's the deal here? What is this place?"

"I wish I knew. I barely understand anything about this place myself. There's just _one_ thing I can really say for certain." He paused and turned his head to Naruto so they both faced each other. Ramu needed to make sure Naruto understood this.

"If we don't run, we're going to be killed."

"...Killed?"

"I know this place is just a dream, but I'm sure you've noticed how real it is at times. Thing is if you die in here, you die in real life."

"You mean like in _Nightmare on Elm Street_?" Naruto took another sip of his water.

"Exactly. If you see this place once, it's all over. You'll keep coming back every night."

A terrifying thought shot through Naruto's mind at those last two words. "What? Every night? For the _rest_ of my life?"

"To be honest, I don't know how long this goes on for. This is _my_ fifth night here. I think last night I ran into someone who was on his twenty-second night."

The idea of being put through this game for thirty nights straight still burned in Naruto's mind. He knew that shinobi were adapt to danger twenty-four-seven, but this was crazy.

Ramu must have seen this in Naruto's face, because he continued to talk, in a somewhat more comforting tone.

"We all have the same fate here. If you don't wanna die, you just gotta keep climbing."

Of course, Naruto misunderstood, and became overjoyed inside. "So, you mean if we climb, we'll be saved?"

"Well, there's no guarantee. But look over there." Ramu pointed over at the bell of the crumbling church at the bell still swaying and ringing. "Now, I'm not a Catholic, or much of a religious man at all really, but I'm pretty sure that churches are some kind of symbol of faith and hope. The fact that each landing has one could be a sign that there's still hope for us. If we make it to the top, there might be a way to escape this."

Naruto's joyful thought from before returned. "Oh, so there _is_ a way out?"

"Like I said, there's no guarantee. I'm just making a guess here. I believe that there's always a way out of every situation. But I'm not one-hundred percent sure about that idea. But we gotta believe. It gives us hope and keeps us sane. Those who panic die first."

"Yep. But we don't have to worry about that," a new voice spoke up. "I mean, we're use to danger and stressful situations, right? This shouldn't be too big of a deal for us."

Startled, Naruto and Ramu turned and looked over their shoulders to face a new sheep leaning on the top rail of the pew on one elbow, and holding a glass of water in that hand. He seemed pretty lean, almost skinny, and wore purple sleeveless shirt and some grey pants. There was also a mop of white hair on his head.

On his forehead was a shinobi headband with an emblem of four squiggly lines. Naruto recognized this as the emblem for Kirigakure.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Name's Suigetsu," he answered calm and cool. He took a quick sip of his water before he continued. "This is my third night in this place. Haven't really come across anything I can't handle, but I would like to know what the hell is going on here."

"Well, how much of our talk did you hear to get it?" Ramu asked.

"Not enough. The only useful thing you said is that this can go on for at least twenty nights. Still sounds like neither of you know why we're here."

"We don't know," Naruto answered.

"Well, there's got to be a reason why we've been brought here," Suigetsu muttered. "Why do we have to suffer like this?"

"Look, we should stop questioning this right now," Ramu replied, sounding more tired and agitated. "It's just going to confuse us more. We should think about what to do next, and how we're going to get by around here. Many people have died in this place already. We don't want to join them."

Naruto, sick of all this talk of death, spoke up. "Quit with all the dying stuff! Just help me get out of here! I'll listen. I'll-I'll do whatever you say. I'm sure I can help you! We can get through this together!"

Ramu sighed and set his glass down beside him on the pew before he stood up and looked down on Naruto. "Look, I'm sorry, but from here on out, you're on your own. I'm going now."

"What? No, hold on a second!" Naruto stood up and started shouting as Ramu stood up and started walking away.

"You better get moving soon too," He called back. "Both of you." He walked down the red carpet and into the booth, as the curtain closed behind him.

"Hey! Wait! Come back!" Naruto shouted again. "Ramu!"

"Aw, come on, man!" Suigetsu shouted in a whiney tone.

Too late. The curtain was closed, and Ramu did not come out.

"You gotta be kidding me," Naruto mumbled when he realized Ramu wasn't coming back. He turned to Suigetsu. "So what do you know about this place?"

"Not much. Probably just about as much as _he_ did. What about you?"

"Nothing, except what Ramu told me. This is only my second day down here."

Suigetsu huffed. "Well, I guess we should just keep climbing, hold out against it as long was we can, and hope it will stop eventually."

"You wanna team up and climb up together?" Naruto asked in a hopeful tone.

"Sorry, buddy, no deal," Suigetsu answered in his smooth tone. "We're fighting to get out of this in one piece. You either shove or be shoved. Every sheep for himself. I had to push and grapple with a few sheep myself to get up here.

_"And_ we just met. I can't trust you just like that." And then he turned to Naruto and gave him a wicked smirk. "And besides, what makes you so sure you can trust _me_ that fast?"

Naruto gulped silently as a wave of nasty thoughts were sent through his mind my that look. The look screamed "I'll stab you in the back at the first given the chance." Of course, Suigetsu was intentionally trying to get that across, it seemed.

Suigetsu turned away, and gulped down the last of his water, ending with a refreshing sigh. "I'm going to go get another glass of water," He said after. "Then I'll head up the booth." He stood up from leaning on the rail, and started to turn to leave.

One more thought suddenly came to Naruto. "Hey, wait. One more thing," he exclaimed quickly.

"What?" Suigetsu turned back to him.

"What happens when you go into the booth?"

"Oh. Well, there's going to be this weird guy who's going to ask you some question."

"What kind of question?"

"Just something like 'what's your personal opinion on this'. That kind of thing. Don't worry, there's no right or wrong answer. Just answer his question, and he'll send you to the next floor."

"Oh... Okay. Thanks."

"Take care, and watch your back." And with that, Suigetsu turned back to the water glass table.

"Yeah... you too." Naruto watched him leave for a minute.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a chain snapping, and a rumbling sound. Naruto's head snapped up and turned to the source. The booth that Ramu had entered was literally rocketing away upwards. A thruster of some sort was blazing and blowing smoke out the bottom.

Man, there seemed to be a new surprise around every corner in this world. Naruto looked back where the booth had blasted off from, and saw a new booth wiggling its way up from the floor, to his surprise.

He looked around some more at the sheep that were still sitting around on the pews, some on the floor, some pacing, a few locked in conversation and gossip. He finally decided there was no use in just sitting around on the landing and doing nothing, so he stood up, and walked over towards the booth.

He pushed the red curtain up as he stepped under it inside. He expected to find a large room where another man would be waiting for him, but to his surprise, it was only a small room, only with enough leg room and a small bench to sit down at. The walls were decorated in red wall paper with some intriguing designs. There was also a painting of an ocean on the wall of the bench, and on the left wall, some kind of bronze air vent.

Where was the other guy? Who was going to ask him that question? Confused (a feeling Naruto had been experiencing a lot lately), Naruto looked at the air vent. He noticed there was some light source behind it, and also the vents were male and female symbols. He tapped on the air vent.

"Umm, hello? Is anyone there?" Naruto asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, hi, how ya doing?" A voice answered. It was the snarky guy's voice that Naruto first heard when he woke up in this place.

"_You_ again? How am I _doing_?" Naruto nearly exploded. "How do you think I'm-"

"Okay, okay, never-mind. Forget I asked that. Just take a seat."

"Who are you? Are you the one causing all of this? What is going on? ANSWER ME!"

"Look, buddy. I got a lot of sheep to deal with tonight, so I don't have time to deal with all your questions. A little cooperation would be nice. So sit down so we can get this thing moving. If you're not going to, get out so someone else can go."

Naruto gritted his teeth. He was angry as hell at that moment. After a second though, he took a deep breath to try and hold it down. He accepted that this guy, whoever he was, was not going to answer his questions. He finally sat down on the small bench.

"Now who are you?" Naruto asked, this time calmly.

"This is the World of Nightmares," the voice replied. He did not answer Naruto's question, which irked him further. "You and the others outside are the lambs that have been chosen. You'll all be dead soon." That last sentance came across with a slight chuckle.

"No way," Naruto growled. "I'm not gonna die here!" Part of him was very scared at how certain the voice sounded that he was going to die. But he knew better than to show fear. He was also more annoyed and angry at the voice.

"But, before I kill you, I need to determine your life's worth," the voice continued. "So I need you to answer my question."

"Alright. What is it?"

"True or false: In any relationship, one partner survives while the other is destroyed."

"Hmm..." Naruto thought for a second. He thought of the relationships he knew of. His mind sifted through photographs of husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. Most seemed pretty happy from his memory. The few that were not happy separated, and both seemed to come out without much harm, or perhaps the harm was mutual in some cases.

"False," He finally announced.

"Ahh," The voice remarked in an amused tone, "so that's your choice? Why am I not surprised?"

"Alright," Naruto continued. "Now who are you? Are you doing all of this?"

"Nah. I just watch over the sheep. Someone else in the real world dropped you here. Someone wished it to be so. Someone wanted you to die. Someone... you _might_ know."

"Who?"

"That... I can't tell you."

"Grr," Naruto gritted his teeth as his anger rose further.

"If you want the truth, you'll have to survive long enough to find it. And since you seek both, I'll take you to the next trial. Ya might wanna hang on."

Before Naruto could make another move, the chain-breaking sound snapped again, and the ground rumbled loudly. The entire booth started shaking. Naruto grunted as he was shook about. He braced his arms against the walls of the booth for support.

He tried to sit up, took a step towards the curtain, and poked his head out. Down he could see the landing far below, getting smaller and smaller as the booth sky-rocketed upwards, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

Naruto sat down back in his seat. He tried to mentally prepare himself for the next floor that was coming, but his mind was still burning, trying to comprehend just what the Hell was going on.

**Author's Comments: I'm SOOO Sorry It took so long to update. So many things came up. First I was working on another story, and then I got really busy with school, and my horrible habit to procrastinate from my homework, and then when I finally found time, I came down with a bit of writer's block! And so I resorted to playing a lot of xbox 360 games, mainly _Batman: Arkham City_, which is my version of drinking. Also, I got caught up in working on some of my other stories at some point. And then we went on a family vacation, which I hardly found time to work on my stories.**

**The thing that was really a slap in the face to me that screamed that I need to get back to this story, though, was the fact that the fifth Shippuden movie _Blood Prison_, was just posted with English Subbing yesterday. There is also the fact that I have not updated this story in five months! And so I'm sorry so much go in the way, but I finally got around to this.**

**So, you know how in the last few chapters, I've been pointing out some of the voice actors who have had roles in both _Naruto_ and _Catherine_? Well, i finally found this one guy who pointed out all the voices that have been in both games. I decided to post them all here, because it really interests me. So here's his words here:**

**Any Naruto fans noticed how many voice actors from Naruto are in this game?**

Vincent's voice actor is the same as Pein/Pains, Yamato and Yahiko  
>Katherine is Orochimaru's female body, Matsuri<br>Catherine does Fuka, Anko Mitarashi, Yukimaru, and Shion,  
>Orlando shares the same voice actor as Gaara<br>Tobias and Astaroth are voiced by Sasuke (which I find weird because they don't sound anything alike).  
>Johnny is voiced by the same guy who does Zetzu and Jugo<br>Boss does voices for Kisame Hoshigaki, Chiriku, Fukasaku

If stuff like this really interests you, many of these voices are also shared between Bleach and Full Metal Alchemist too!

**- Aizen.**

From Verdinial

**Part of me things I was a little bit stingy and brief about the block-climbing scene. Thing is, nothing really important plot-wise will happen in some of these sequences, so some of them will be skimmed over. Also, I was really eager to get it done about after that black-wearing sheep shoved him. That part with the spike blocks was a little funny, so we needed to see that, and that sheep who shoved Naruto was necessary, I think, to show how scared and aggressive some of the sheep would get with him, trying to stay alive themselves. If important things happen in the nightmare sequences, I will try to be more descriptive and elaborate about them, especially when Naruto starts facing his night-terrors! And also when I get more creative with the challenges in the nightmare world that he'll have to face.**

**You know, in my personal opinion, action scenes can be hard to pull off usually, as well as reading and understanding them. Not just in fanfiction stories, but in real novels as well. To understand them, you have to pay close attention and understand every detail of them. That can be hard to to sometimes, in my opinion. And the longer it goes for, the more difficult it is to follow.**

**And you know that stairwell of spike blocks part? Well that actually happened to _me_ early on in the game. Vincent had to move fast to keep ahead of a single row of spike blocks, I remember. It was kind of funny, and I decided to use it here.**

**So, as if you guessed what the monster from the previous chapter was for the game, here's your answer: That monster was the Amnion, the final boss of **_**Silent Hill: Homecoming**_**. Congratulations if you guessed it right. i just really liked that creature. It was sickening, and somehow an awesome sight to behold.**

**So, here's the trivia game for this chapter: Remember the question that the Mysterious Voice (I won't reveal his name yet for spoiler's sake, although those who have beaten _Catherine_ probably know his name) asked Naruto? Well, I don't know if he asked Vincent a question like it in the canon game, but this idea for a question I actually got from a novel that I'm referencing here. See if you can guess what novel. (Hint: It was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.)**

**Now, believe it or not, I still have not finished _Catherine_! I don't even remember what stage I'm on. Thing is I'm trying to save it for when I REALLY need inspiration to write this story, and I think I'm doing okay right now. Not to say I didn't come across a few spoilers as I went along browsing the internet.**

**So yeah. That's all the comments I got for this chapter. I hope everyone liked it. I hope everyone's excited for the next chapter. PLEASE subscribe, favor, and most of all, REVIEW!**

**Thank you very much.**


	7. Emergency Author's Note Regarding Purge

Have you seen the notice that it turns out sexual content (including lemons) is technically not allowed on this site? I've heard that because of this, there's going to be a purge soon that will deleted all M-rated stories on this site, lemons or no lemons.

That's a real bitch, isn't it? I am so pissed off! I've been putting a lot of hard work into this story, and just like that it's going to go? Bullsh*t! And I know so many people have been reading and enjoying it!

So, I am sure that this story is going to get deleted soon. So I wanted to give all my loyal fans a heads-up on what I'm planning. So at first, I was planning on rewriting the chapter with the lemon, and then try to keep the tone down a little on the content from here on in, but I don't think that's going to work. So if this story gets deleted, I'll either try reposting it here again later on, or start an account on a different fanfiction website (like ) and write it there. I don't know yet.

You can either subscribe an author alert to me, or shoot me a PM, and I'll let you know what I plan on doing when I get down to it.

Also, in case this is the end, I would like to thank GLJ for being my only reviewer as of late. Thanks man! It makes me so happy that at least one person is leaving me reviews and feedback! And your reviews are so long and descriptive too! It seems you're actually paying attention to the story and reading my Author's Notes. Thank you so much!

I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you'll all bear with me on this. Thanks everyone!


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